Daily Archives: January 31, 2013

Preservation Journey asked readers to name the historic buildings they’d like to see in person before they head off to that big self-guided walking tour in the sky. Maria Pease decided to take them up on it, so she’s compiling a list of all the places in the United States that she wants to visit.

In that spirit, I thought I’d write down a bucket list of U.S. historic sites and history museums of my own, and I was surprised at how long it turned out to be. Before I did this little exercise, I thought I’d been making pretty good progress with my history travels, but it turns out I’ve still got quite a bit to cover. Here they are, in no particular order.

All the Rev War sites in and around Boston

Lexington and Concord

Plimoth Plantation (I’ve never been to New England, so there are quite a few entries from that neck of the woods.)

New Bedford. The history of whaling has fascinated me for a long time, longer than I’ve been interested in “history” in general.

General Nathanael Greene Homestead

Trenton and Princeton

Valley Forge

Saratoga

Petersen House (Went to Ford’s Theater with my family when I was a kid, but for some reason we didn’t go across the street.)

Alamance Battleground (This was a near-miss for me. I planned to visit during a weekend trip to North Carolina, but I spent more time than I’d expected at Guilford Courthouse and had to head back.)

Mary Todd Lincoln House (I lived ten miles from Lexington for a year and never made it to this one.)

Moore’s Creek Bridge

Museum of the Confederacy

Fort Sumter (I’ve seen it from Sullivan’s Island, but haven’t actually been to it.)

Blue Licks

Perryville (I’ve never been really obsessive about hitting Civil War battlefields; I just try to make it to the ones that really interest me and the obligatory destinations like Gettysburg and Antietam. But I’ve heard Perryville is really nice, so I’d like to make it up there at some point.)

Monmouth Courthouse

Brandywine

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (I’ve never really been into these engagements, but it seems a shame to have all those battlegrounds in one place and not visit.)

Fort Necessity

Blair Mountain (Better see it while it’s still there.)

Atlanta History Center (A friend of mine went a few years ago and said it was great.)

Horseshoe Bend

The Mariners’ Museum, just for the Monitor stuff

Savannah, GA

Finally, a few places I’ve visited already, but which need do-overs for various reasons.

National Museum of American History, since it’s been totally renovated since the last time I was there.

Independence National Historical Park. I didn’t have time to see the whole thing.

Mt. Vernon. Went when I was a kid, but I don’t remember anything except the tomb.

New York City. Been a couple of times, but it was before I’d developed an interest in history, so I didn’t want to see anything except the American Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building, and a couple of Broadway shows.